Friday, 30 April 2010

With the advent of Universal Membership all members of our affiliated clubs will be receiving English Bridge, the EBU’s member magazine, from the June issue. This will take over part of the role until now fulfilled by Club Focus with more articles for our club players. That means this is the last issue of our newsletter in its current form intended for a general readership. We do hope you have enjoyed our mix of entertaining, informative and instructive articles over the fifteen issues of its existence.

Club Focus will continue as an occasional newsletter squarely aimed at club administrators, providing useful information and helpful articles for club chairmen, secretaries, committee members and others involved with the running of our clubs. Clubs will be invited to pass the newsletter on to anyone they feel would be interested.

We thus say goodbye to those of you who simply come along to enjoy a friendly game of bridge without being involved in the actual running of the club. If you have never thought about it before, you might consider whether you have time to lend a helping hand with the activities of the club. Most committees will welcome an extra pair of hands.

We would welcome any articles and ideas for future issues of a new format Club Focus. Please do drop us a line to clubfocus@ebu.co.uk

We would like to thank all of those who have helped with the creation of CF over the last two or three years, especially our regular contributors and those who have helped in many ways behind the scenes.

Monday, 26 April 2010

Cambridge University have won the Portland Bowl for the first time since 2004. The team won after a close final over Oxford’s A team, which was held over last weekend (24 – 25 April) at the Portland Club in London.

The Cambridge team included five members from England’s junior squads - Graeme Robertson (Captain), Sarah O' Connor, Tom Rainforth, David Faria and Dave Williams. The team was completed by experienced player, John Haslegrave.

Oxford won the first set by 11imps but Cambridge had a storming second set, when they won by 38 imps to take the lead by 27. Their lead was whittled down to 9 imps going into the last set but they gained another 4 imps to emerge victors by 13 imps.

Denis, who died of a fatal heart attack on 23 April, had been a well-known figure in the Kent bridge world for over thirty years. Denis, who was originally from Ireland, won a Silver medal for Ireland in the 1974 European Youth Championship in Copenhagen. Later on, he represented Kent in the Tollemache on many occasions, being part of the winning team four times. Other national successes include Crockfords (three times) and the Pachabo. He played twice for England in international matches; he particularly enjoyed a match against Ireland in Galway, where he was brought up. He had been selected to represent England in the forthcoming Seniors Camrose.

Away from the bridge table he followed a career in education, having been a secondary school headmaster. His many other interests included sport, especially football. He was a former referee and was involved in the administration of youth football in the county.

Denis lived near Canterbury and is survived by his wife Maria, two children and two grandchildren. He will be sorely missed.

Thursday, 15 April 2010

The English Bridge Union joins forces with one of the most experienced cruise retailers in the UK, Gill’s Cruise Centre to offer ‘Learn to Play Bridge’ courses on board Fred Olsen cruise ships.

The EBU sees the partnership with the family-owned business as a new and innovative way of providing a different type of learning opportunity.

Designed for absolute beginners the classes have been arranged around the ships own schedule to combine a holiday with learning a new hobby.

In addition to on-board ‘Learn to Play Bridge’ courses there are plans to offer ‘Improve your Game’ courses to the many thousands of social players who wish to consolidate and develop their game.

The combination of the English Bridge Union’s top class tutors with Gill’s Cruise Centre inspires the confidence that clients will be looked after by one of the UK’s leading cruise specialists whilst learning a game that will bring lifelong enjoyment.

Click here to view the bridge cruises and here to link to Gill's Cruise Centre website.

Saturday, 10 April 2010

Welcome to the new English Bridge Union. We are the governing body for duplicate bridge in England representing communities of bridge players at club, county and national level. We are funded by members for members and the development of duplicate bridge in England.

The Benefits of MembershipIf you are a member of one of our affiliated duplicate bridge clubs you automatically become a member of the EBU. You can find out about the services and benefits available to you here.

If you are a duplicate bridge club and would like to affiliate to the EBU you can read all about the many associated benefits including the security afforded to your club members through playing within our jurisdiction here.

If you would like to join the EBU via one of our affiliated clubs and learn more about the county bridge association where you live – click here to find out about our activities in your area.

If you cannot join one of our clubs you can still receive the many benefits of membership by becoming a direct member.

Want to Learn? Want to Teach?The EBU is England’s national bridge organisation and it is committed to developing the game of duplicate bridge through an extensive education programme. If you would like to learn to play bridge you can find a teacher here.

Security for our membersMembership helps maintain the infrastructure of the game which provides development for the future and protection today for all those who play in our clubs and our national and county competitions.

If you require any help with playing regulations or the laws of duplicate bridge click here for further information.

Young People and BridgeWe have a wealth of news on our website about our Minibridge teaching initiative for schools and the many activities available for those taking part in Youth Bridge.

International CompetitionsAs a national bridge organisation we select players to represent England in a variety of competitions. We are very proud of the success of our players on the international scene. You can read more about the players concerned by clicking on biographies.

Here to HelpWe are here to help you get the best out of your membership of the EBU. There is always a friendly member of staff who can help.

Thursday, 1 April 2010

At 16:49 on 1st April we had our very first Pay To Play submission. Welwyn Garden City Bridge Club had a 10-table duplicate in the morning. Congratulations to Susan Early and Nora Cherry (North/South) and Michael Pearce and Ann Kaplan (East/West) for winning the first session of the new era.